New Delhi:

The government has fielded Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to build consensus on the choices for the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker post, sources have said.

The senior BJP leaders, it is learnt, have spoken to top Opposition leaders — Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK leader MK Stalin and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee — on this subject. Talks are also being held with key NDA allies Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal United, sources have said.

The deadline to file nomination for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker is 12 pm today and an election, if any, will be held tomorrow. All Speakers so far have been elected unanimously and an election, if it happens, will be a first.

The BJP is tight-lipped about its choice for the key post, but there is a buzz that Om Birla, who served as Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, may be repeated. Mr Birla also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning. In fact, Bhartruhari Mahtab, the pro-term speaker, is also being seen as a frontrunner.

Another post under the spotlight is that of the Deputy Speaker. This position is traditionally given to the Opposition. However, the BJP had appointed its ally AIADMK’s M Thambi Durai as Deputy Speaker in 2014. Since 2019, the post is vacant.

In both the 16th and the 17th Lok Sabha, there was no Leader of the Opposition, as the Congress did not have enough numbers. But this time, the Opposition has posted a good show in the general election, with the Congress winning 99 seats. So the party, backed by its allies in the INDIA Opposition bloc, will be pushing for the Deputy Speaker’s post.

In fact, according to Congress sources, Mr Kharge has already made it clear to Mr Singh that the Deputy Speaker should be from the Opposition benches. The Congress chief has said that while the Oppositions wants consensus too, healthy traditions must be followed, the sources added.

New Delhi:

During the entire election season, the BJP stood by its target of 400 Lok Sabha seats for the NDA and its slogan of ‘ab ki baar 400 paar’ in the face of relentless mocking by the opposition. If three exit polls are to be believed, the ruling party is going to have the last laugh.  

While two of the polls have given ranges with figures of just over 400 on the upper end, News 24-Today’s Chanakya has predicted 400 as the NDA’s tally. The only rider this number comes with is that the margin of error is 15 seats. The figure then becomes 385 on the lower end and an astounding 415 on the upper side.

India TV-CNX has also given similar estimates and a range of 371-401, putting the NDA just over the mammoth target if it touches the upper limit of the range. India Today-Axis My India has predicted 361-401. 

Health Warning: Exit polls often get it wrong. 

The NDA’s tally was 352 in 2019 and the BJP had won 303 seats on its own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make history if he gets a third straight term and the party and the alliance’s leaders and election machinery will have shown their prowess if the NDA even gets the lowest end of these figures.

A tally of 361, the minimum figure predicted by India Today-Axis My India, will mean that the alliance has bettered its performance in each successive election, which would be a huge feat on its own and indicate that anti-incumbency is not much of a factor. It will also be a testament to PM Narendra Modi’s popularity.

The opposition INDIA Alliance, which said on Saturday that it will win 295 constituencies, has been given 107 (plus-minus 11) by Today’s Chanakya, 109-139 by CNX and 131-166 by Axis My India. 

With its 80 Lok Sabha seats the most important state in every election is Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP had won 62 seats in 2019, when the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party were in an alliance. The Samajwadi Party is now allied with the Congress and all three polls have the BJP bettering its tally in the state. 

News 24-Today’s Chanakya’s prediction is 68 (plus-minus 7), India Today-Axis My India’s estimate is 67-72 and India TV-CNX has given the party 70-74. 

All three polls show the NDA doing better than it did in the South in 2019. Another big headline from the three exit polls is also that the BJP will get more seats that the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, with Axis My India going as far as giving 26-31 of the state’s 42 seats to the ruling party at the Centre.

New Delhi:

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has backed the INDIA bloc to come up trumps against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, arguing that mega wins in the 2014 and 2019 polls – in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party scored 282 and 303 seats on its own, and 336 and 353 with allies – meant it had reached a saturation point in terms of votes it might win.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr Kharge said the BJP’s failure to fulfil promises made over the previous two terms (10 years) would also count against it, and highlighted issues like unemployment and the cost of living crisis to make his point – that it is necessary to remove the BJP government to “strengthen democracy and save the Constitution”.

“Even after five phases (the 2024 election is spread across seven phases, with the fifth completed on Monday and the sixth scheduled for Saturday) the INDIA bloc is ahead. This is because Modiji did not fulfil promises he made… the people waited for 10 years…”

“But today they are facing inflation on a large scale and are worried. Young children, troubled by unemployment, are wandering on the streets,” Mr Kharge told NDTV.

Formed in June last year, the INDIA bloc was expected to unite the opposition and mount a concerted challenge to Mr Modi and the BJP. The group – which includes the AAP, Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, the Samajwadi Party, and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction as members – has fielded common candidates in a majority of the seats in this election.

However, seat-sharing disagreements with some others has meant the Congress has been forced into ‘friendly contests’, including against the Trinamool in Bengal and CPIM in Kerala. 

Many believe these fractures will materially affect the group’s chance of defeating the BJP, but Mr Kharge insisted, “The opposition is on the winning side and they are on the decline.”

To defeat the BJP the INDIA bloc will have to do two things. 

One – to retain and build on the opposition’s edge over the saffron party in the southern states. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry send 130 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In 2019, the BJP was routed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, and won just four of 17 seats in Telangana. The only big score was in Karnataka, where it got 25 of 28 seats. An even stronger showing is needed this time around.

All the southern states have completed voting.

The second task is to slash the BJP’s advantage in the Hindi heartland. 

In 2019 the party won a staggering 204 of the 226 seats in the 10 Hindi-speaking states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. In 2014 it won 191 seats.

This is where, Mr Kharge told NDTV, the INDIA bloc will shine, insisting, “We have a lead in every state… they are decreasing. Because they have got the maximum they were supposed to get. Now they won’t get more than that. Where we lost, (now) we have jumped.”

The Congress chief said he expected positive results from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP dominated, winning 53 of 54 seats. “In Rajasthan will do well. This time we will not get zero. We will get seats in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as well.”

In Maharashtra, where the Congress is allied with Mr Thackeray’s Shiv Sena group and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Mr Kharge said, “Last time we got one seat in Maharashtra. This time we are going to get at least thirty seats.”

“We will get good seats in Karnataka (too)… 50 per cent is our target,” he said.

Referring to the overall picture, Mr Kharge said, “The trend we are getting will show that we will stop the BJP from coming back to power. I cannot say (how many we will get)… 273, 28), 290… (but) we are getting a lot, yes. We will come to power.”

On the question of a prime ministerial candidate – which the INDIA bloc does not have and which the BJP has pointed out gleefully – Mr Kharge said, “The alliance will decide.”

The Congress leader pointed out it is premature to talk about a PM face at this point, explaining, “If we have not given birth to a child, then how can I tell the size of the head?”

Kolkata:

The Congress’ Bengal boss, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Thursday weighed in on the ‘is she, isn’t she’ debate over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s membership of the INDIA opposition bloc.

Responding to her “… will provide outside support (if the group wins the election)” comment Wednesday, Mr Chowdhury declared, “I don’t trust her… she left the alliance. She can also go towards the BJP.”

“What she will do from outside (the alliance) or inside… I don’t know. That you have to ask her,” the Congress leader told reporters, “But I don’t trust her. She left the alliance… she could even run to BJP.”

Mr Chowdhury – there is little love lost between him and Ms Banerjee, a fact underlined by the latter yesterday explicitly stating “… INDIA alliance doesn’t count Bengal Congress…” – also said, “Whatever complaints she has (about the bloc) she should have raised earlier, when it was created.”

#WATCH | West Bengal: On CM Mamata Banerjee’s remarks “will support INDIA bloc from outside to form govt at Centre”, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, “I don’t trust her. She left the alliance and ran away. She can also go towards the BJP… They were talking about… pic.twitter.com/F3unHSUfD6

— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2024

Mr Chowdhury further pointed out the apparent U-turn came after polling for nearly 70 per cent of all Lok Sabha seats, with the opposition bloc claiming big advances in its bid to oust the ruling BJP.

“They (referring to the BJP) were talking about destroying Congress and that Congress would not get 40 seats… but now (what) she is saying means Congress and INDIA are coming to power,” he said, appearing to suggest Ms Banerjee’s about-face followed a realisation the BJP will likely be defeated.

A day earlier Ms Banerjee – who had put her membership of the bloc on hold after public spats over seat-sharing deals – declared she would provide “outside support” in the event of an election win.

READ | Mamata Banerjee Redefines INDIA, Says Will Provide “Outside Support”

“We will give leadership to INDIA and help… from outside. We will form a government so our Bengal mothers and sisters… and those who work in 100-days job scheme do not face problems,” she said.

This afternoon, at a poll rally in Tamluk, Ms Banerjee underlined her position, saying, “I am very much part of INDIA… it was my brainchild. We are together at national level and will continue to be together.”

Ms Banerjee did, though, make it clear – yesterday and today – that she does not see the Congress’ state unit and the CPM, as allies. The Congress and the CPM, which is also part of the INDIA bloc, are allied in Bengal (but rivals in Kerala), but have fielded candidates against the Trinamool.

The Bengal Chief Minister has frequently attacked the Mr Chowdhury-led Congress unit, and the CPM, as having unofficially joined the BJP. “They are not with us… they are with the BJP here.”

Earlier this year, as the Congress was scrambling to confirm seat-share deals with INDIA allies ahead of voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Ms Banerjee – seen as one of the group’s more cantankerous members – refused to play ball, insisting she would not give up more seats to that party than necessary.

READ | “No Tie-Up With Congress”: Mamata’s Bengal Twist Stuns INDIA Bloc

She pointed to the Congress’ abysmal record in the 2019 election – in which it won just two of 42 seats – and insisted her party had the best chance to defeat the BJP in the state.

Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha seats, of which the Trinamool won 22 last time and the BJP got 18, and Ms Banerjee reasoned the Congress simply did not have the clout to stop the saffron party in the state.

After a tension-filled few weeks in January and February, Ms Banerjee walked away from the bloc.

READ | “Even With Binoculars…”: Trinamool Sources On Congress’ 5-Seat Demand

Sources then told NDTV they could not find a third seat for the Congress “even with binoculars”.

This was after Ms Banerjee and the Congress’ Delhi unit failed to advance seat-share talks, and she hit out at what she said was a personal snub from Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’.

The Congress then said the opposition “cannot imagine INDIA without Mamataji“.

READ | “Cannot Imagine INDIA Without Mamataji“: Congress On “No Tie-Up” Jab

Amidst all this back-and-forth, Mr Chowdhury continued to attack the Trinamool, declaring Ms Banerjee – a former member of the Congress – owed her state success to the party’s “mercy”. In fact, Mr Chowdhury was fiercely opposed to the idea of an alliance with Ms Banerjee and the Trinamool.

READ | Behind INDIA Jolt, Adhir Ranjan’s Obstinacy, Trinamool’s Regional Card

The battle for Bengal is one of several headline points, with the BJP keen on continuing to make inroads into the state after its success in the 2019 general election and the 2021 state poll. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Ms Banerjee have all gone head-to-head on the campaign trail, with frequent sharp attacks on contentious topics like the citizenship law.

The state will continue to vote in each of the three remaining phases. Results are due on June 4.

With input from agencies

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New Delhi:

In September last year the INDIA opposition bloc – formed to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha election – met in Mumbai, after which it released a joint resolution that said it would contest the election “together as far as possible”. 

The phrasing raised eyebrows and underscored doubts (already raised) about the longevity of a mix of national, state, and regional parties with varying political ideologies and goals, and drew barbs from the BJP, which prophesied a collapse before the turn of the year.

READ | “Will Contest Together As Far As Possible”: INDIA Bloc On Polls

Of particular concern were seat-sharing exercises, as the next few weeks and months would show.

The bloc leader, the Congress, struggled to close deals with the Trinamool in Bengal, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi and Punjab, while talks in Maharashtra also dragged.

These states together account for 190 seats. 

It wasn’t till a double boost in February – the Chandigarh mayoral election and a 17:63 split with the Samajwadi Party for UP’s 80 seats – that the bloc seemed to find some momentum.

And while a deal with the Trinamool never materialised, the Congress, fueled by the Chandigarh win, also struck a deal with the AAP for Punjab’s 13 and Delhi’s seven seats.

Eventually, though, the bloc did manage a few deals, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Jammu and Kashmir, and is now a firm challenger to the BJP’s hat-trick bid.

But all isn’t smooth sailing because INDIA vs INDIA subplots have emerged not only in states where there are no seat-share deals – like Kerala and Bengal – and in states where there are. 

READ | 

The Congress-led group faces ‘friendly’ fire in all 13 states voting in this phase.

Kerala 

In Kerala, the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) – INDIA members outside the state – will contest all 20 seats against the Congress. 

READ | Shashi Tharoor’s Thiruvananthapuram Winning Streak In BJP’s Crosshair

This means three of the party’s senior-most leaders – Rahul Gandhi (the Amethi question is still unanswered), Shashi Tharoor, and KC Venugopal – must all fight Left leaders and BJP rivals in their contests from Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Alappuzha, respectively.

READ | BJP Lurks, As INDIA Battles INDIA In Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad

Bengal 

It is also obviously the case in Bengal, where the Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool had quite a dramatic falling out over failed seat-share talks. 

This means a Trinamool-less INDIA, rebadged as the Secular Democratic Alliance, has fielded candidates for the Darjeeling and Raiganj seats, while the Revolutionary Socialist Party will contest from Balurghat. All three of these were won by the BJP in the last election.

Maharashtra

The Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which includes the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party unit of Sharad Pawar.

The three have agreed a seat-share deal between themselves, but it wasn’t one the smaller parties – the CPI, CPM, All India Forward Bloc, and Bharat Adivasi Party – liked.

As a result, four of the eight seats in this phase will see a ‘friendly’ contest.

Amravati will see a Congress vs AIFB contest, while Hingoli and Parbhani will see Thackeray camp leaders against those from the CPIM and CPI. And in Wardha, Mr Pawar’s NCP faction will contest against another AIFB candidate.

Rajasthan 

The Congress, as head of the INDIA bloc has agreed a 22:1:1:1 split, with the BAP, Rashtriya Lok Party, and CPIM getting a seat each. 

But the BAP has also fielded candidates in five other seats, setting up a contest the Congress could probably do without in a state that it was thumped – by the BJP – in the last Assembly election. 

Other States

Similar contests are on the cards in Assam’s Silchar (Congress vs Trinamool), Bihar’s Purnia (Rashtriya Janata Dal vs AIFB), Jammu (Congress vs AIFB), and Damoh in Madhya Pradesh (Congress vs BAP). 

There are two such contests in Karnataka, including the Bengaluru Rural seat being contested by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s brother, DK Suresh, who will face a Viduthalai Chiruthaigai Katchi candidate.

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New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted last opportunity to the Centre and Opposition parties to file their responses on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for directions to prohibit the use of the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) by opposition political alliances.

The Delhi High Court refused to prepone hearing in the PIL against the opposition political parties using the acronym INDIA while hearing the petitioner’s application seeking an early hearing of the matter in view of the general election schedule notified by ECI.

The first phase of voting for the 2024 general elections is on April 19.

The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora gave the one last opportunity to file the replies, saying “it would try to hear and dispose of the matter on April 10”.

Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI), in its reply to the Delhi High Court, said that it can’t regulate political alliances while responding to a plea against the use of the INDIA acronym for the alliance of opposition parties.

“The answering respondent (ECI) is constituted under Article 324 of the Constitution of India for superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of all elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice President,” the ECI stated.

The authority of the answering respondent is to be exercised in accordance with the law passed by Parliament, albeit the answering respondent has the authority to regulate matters concerning elections in the absence of any contrary law in force, the poll panel said.

“The answering respondent has been vested with the authority to register associations of bodies or individuals of a political party in terms of Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (the “RP Act”),” it added.

Political alliances are not recognised as regulated entities under the Representation of People’s Act or the Constitution.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought a response from the Centre, the ECI and several opposition political parties on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for direction to opposition political parties against the use of the acronym INDIA for their political alliance.

The court also sought responses from opposition parties named in the petition.

Petitioner Girish Upadhya, through Advocate Vaibhav Singh, stated that several political parties are using the national flag as the logo of their alliance, which is a further strategic move to attract and gain sympathy and votes from innocent citizens and as a tool to give a nudge or a spark that may lead to political hatred, which eventually will lead to political violence.

The plea alleged that political parties are using the acronym INDIA with malicious intent which will only act as a factor for “diminishing the goodwill of our great nation i.e., India (Bharat), not only in our country but also on various international platforms”.

The plea stated that if the term INDIA is used by the Indian and International Media as an acronym but not in its full form (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) it will create a sense of confusion among innocent citizens if the alliance i.e. INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) is defeated or loses the general election of 2024 then it would be projected as India as a whole is defeated, which will hurt the sentiment of innocent citizens of the country again which may lead to political violence in the country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jammu:

After People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed unhappiness over the National Conference’s decision to contest all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir, NC President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said both parties are part of the INDIA coalition. He asserted that his party would win all three seats in Kashmir for the alliance.

Mehbooba Mufti had on Friday said that the NC’s decision was “disappointing” and a “setback to the hopes of the people of J&K”. She also accused the NC of reducing their Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to a “joke”.

“I do not know what she (Mufti) had said… National Conference stands on its own feet and has won three seats (in the 2019 general elections). We are part of the alliance and she is also part of the alliance. If the National Conference wins (these seats) again, they will win it for the INDIA alliance and so what is the problem,” Mr Abdullah told reporters here.

The NC leader said he is sure that the INDIA alliance will always grow because it is needed “for the future of India and democracy”. He said that “everybody wants a secular India where we all can live in peace, harmony and progress”.

“India is for all. India is not Pakistan. The Constitution of India was framed on the lines that we are all one. How does it matter what religion you follow, what language you speak and what your culture is? It is a united India,” he said.

Asked about Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks on PAGD, he said assembly elections are coming and “we will see what we will do. I am sure they (BJP-led government) will try to hold the assembly polls with parliamentary elections.”

The NC has announced the party would contest the three seats in Kashmir valley and asked the Congress to contest the two seats in the Jammu region. The party also said there would be a consensus candidate of NC and Congress on the Ladakh seat.

Jammu and Kashmir has five Lok Sabha seats, while Ladakh has one. In the last elections, while the NC won the three seats in Kashmir, the BJP won the two Jammu seats as well as the lone Ladakh seat.

On PAGD, Ms Mufti had said on Friday that it was “difficult to see the unity break”.

“I regret that what we nurtured for five years has been shattered,” she said. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that had the NC leadership discussed the issue with her, the PDP could have let the NC contest on all three seats in the valley.

However, she said the PDP was still a part of the INDIA bloc and the party would discuss the future strategy with the Congress.

Asked about the formation of a new government in Pakistan and its possible approach towards India, Mr Abdullah on Saturday said Islamabad has to decide whether it wants peaceful relations with India or not.

“What Pakistan does, is their problem. It is their nation and it is for them to decide whether they want to live in peace with our nation or they don’t want to live in peace.

“Kashmir was acceded to India by Maharaja Hari Singh and that accession is even today and that will last forever,” he said, adding, “We are part of India and there is no problem for us. It is for them to decide what they want to do.”

To a query on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler, he said, “I do not know what he had said and under what conditions”.

“He (Modi) is not a Prime Minister of the BJP. People who voted for him are just 37 per cent but once one becomes a Prime Minister, he represents every Indian. He also represents 1.4 billion when he goes outside the country.

“He represents Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and every other religion, and those who have no religion,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar:

The National Conference on Friday said it would not agree a seat-share deal with the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir, a development that comes as setback for the opposition INDIA bloc. NC leader Omar Abdullah’s swipe at the PDP underlined the rift between the two regional parties, each of which has declared it will contest the poll on its own.

“I have told you… the party that is No. 3 has no right to ask for a seat. If I had been told, before joining INDIA, we would have to weaken ourselves for another member, I would have never joined,” Mr Abdullah said.

This was after PDP boss Mehbooba Mufti said her party too is planning to fight this election on its own. She said the PDP would decide candidates for J&K’s five seats and the one in Ladakh.

READ | Another INDIA Setback As PDP Preps For “Own Fight” In Polls

“Since they (the National Conference) have already taken a decision… we will discuss it. There will be deliberations and a future course of action will be decided (soon),” the PDP’s Suhail Bukhari said.

That comment, in turn, was after one by Farooq Abdullah – Mr Abdullah’s father.

READ | Farooq Abdullah’s Party To Fight Alone In J&K In Setback For INDIA

“As far as seat sharing is concerned, I want to make it clear NC will contest elections on its own. There should be no questions on this…” he had said last month. Hours later Omar Abdullah attempted damage control, stating (with his father by his side) the NC “is still” part of INDIA.

READ | After Farooq Abdullah’s Comment On INDIA, Son Omar Clarifies

Farooq Abdullah’s comment was seen as the former Chief Minister expressing concern over the stalemate between his party, the PDP, and the Congress in reaching a seat-share agreement.

As this back-and-forth continued, Omar Abdullah also made it clear there was no scenario in which the National Conference would ally with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

“Let me make it clear… there is no window, or even a crack, open for the NDA… there is no possibility of us joining them,” he said in response to speculation the NC would quit INDIA.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP and Mr Abdullah’s NC split the six seats, with the former winning Ladakh, Udhampur, and Jammu, and the latter claiming Baramulla, Srinagar (where Mr Modi on Thursday held a massive rally), and Anantnag.

The PDP contested all six but failed to win any, and went home with an overall vote share of less than four per cent. The NC secured a vote share of just under eight per cent. The Congress, which also failed to win any seats, picked up around 28 per cent of the votes.

Talks for the 2024 election have reportedly stalled over the PDP’s demand for the Anantnag seat, which is currently held by the NC but was won by Ms Mufti in 2004 and 2014. It was also won by Ms Mufti’s father, ex-Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in 1998; he was then with the Congress.

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Patna:

After DMK leader A Raja’s remarks on ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and the idea of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav stated that the statement given by the DMK leader is personal adding the statement does not reflect India National Democratic Alliance view.

“This is his personal statement. It is not ours (INDIA Alliance),” said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell head Amit Malviya on Tuesday slammed DMK’s A Raja and alleged that the DMK leader had called for “Balkanisation of India and derided Lord Ram, as well as made disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions the idea of India, as a nation.”

“The hate speeches from DMK’s stable continue unabated. After Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call to annihilate Sanatan Dharma, it is now A Raja who calls for balkanisation of India, derides Bhagwan Ram, makes disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions the idea of India, as a nation,” Malviya posted on X on Tuesday.

“Congress and other INDI Alliance partners are quiet. Rahul Gandhi, their putative Prime Ministerial candidate’s silence is eloquent,” he posted.

Senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the Congress leadership asking if they agreed with the DMK leader.

“He (A Raja) said that we will never accept ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’… Do Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge agree with this? Will DMK use such derogatory comments against deities of other religions? We respect all religions” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Earlier, Amit Malviya posted the said speech of DMK’s A Raja made in Madurai with the translation saying, “India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition and one culture. Then only it is one nation. India is not a nation but a subcontinent. What’s the reason? Here, Tamil is one nation and one country. Malayalam is one language, one nation and one country. Oriya is a nation, a language and a country. All these nations make up India. So, India is not country it is a subcontinent. There are so many traditions and cultures. If you come to Tamil Nadu, there’s a culture. In Kerala, there’s another culture. In Delhi, there’s another culture. In Oriya, there’s another culture. Why in Manipur, as RS Bharathi said, they eat dog meat. Yes, it is true, they eat. That’s a culture. There’s nothing wrong. It’s all in our mind.”

“From the water tank, water comes to the kitchen. We will use the water in the kitchen. Same water from the water tank comes in toilet but we won’t use it from there. What’s the reason? We’re having a problem psychologically. Water is the same but there’s a difference from where it comes. We acknowledge both. That’s toilet and this is kitchen. Similarly, in Kashmir there’s a culture. Acknowledge it. In Manipur, people eat dog meat, and acknowledge it. If a community eats beef, what is your problem? Did they ask you to eat? So, unity in diversity. We’ve differences. Acknowledge it,” he posted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party – who this week delivered the INDIA bloc’s first electoral win, in the Chandigarh mayoral poll – have finalised seat-share deals for Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, and Haryana, sources told NDTV Friday afternoon.

The details will be revealed at a press conference later today, but the INDIA bloc members are understood to have agreed a four-three split of Delhi’s seven seats.

Sources have said the AAP will field candidates from East, West and South Delhi, in addition to New Delhi, while Congress will contest from North West and North East Delhi, and Chandi Chowk.

In the 2019 election the BJP won all seven seats.

Hours later NDTV was told a deal had also been struck for Goa, Chandigarh, Gujarat, and Haryana, with reports indicating two seats in Gujarat, and one each in Haryana and Chandigarh, are part of the deal.

READ | After Delhi, AAP-Congress Seal Seat Deal For Goa, Haryana, Gujarat: Sources

The last-known position in each of these states was that in Gujarat – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state – the AAP will contest two seats, the sole Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh will go to the Congress, as will the South Goa seat, while the AAP will get at least one seat in Haryana.

Of these, the BJP swept Gujarat and Haryana in the last election, winning all 26 in the former and all 10 in the latter. In Goa, which has only two Lok Sabha seats, the BJP picked up North Goa and finished less than 10,000 votes behind the Congress’ Francisco Sardinha in South Goa.

Mr Modi’s party also won the Chandigarh seat; the Congress held this for three terms previously, with Pawan Kumar Bansal winning in 1999, 2004, and 2009. There was talk the AAP would insist on this seat.

The Congress-led INDIA has been busy this week – with just days for Lok Sabha election dates to be announced – wrapping up deals in Uttar Pradesh, closing in on an agreement in Maharashtra, and hoping for a revival of fortunes in Bengal.

READ | “Even With Binoculars…”: Trinamool Sources On Congress’ 5-Seat Demand

These accords have not, for now, changed the equation in Punjab, where the AAP is set to contest all 13 seats. That was confirmed by party boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last week, who took a swipe at the Congress as he did so.

The UP deal – under which the Congress will contest 17 of the state’s 80 seats and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (and regional allies) the other 63 – was INDIA’s first major seat-share contract, and came after Mr Yadav’s ‘ultimatum’ about his participation in the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’.

READ | INDIA Bloc’s UP Seat Sharing Pact Finalised, Congress To Fight On 17 Seats

Set up in June to defeat Mr Modi and the BJP, the INDIA bloc has already lost Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) – a founding member – and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtra Lok Dal, which has influence among the Jat community in western UP. Both the JDU and the RLD have aligned with the BJP. 

Aware that further losses, or delays in sealing seat-share deals, will make it even harder to fight the BJP’s formidable election-winning machinery, the Congress has stepped up its negotiating efforts this week, with senior leaders – Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Sonia Gandhi – all playing key roles.

READ | To Solve UP Seat-Sharing Deadlock, Sonia, Priyanka Gandhi Stepped In

Mr Gandhi has spoken to Shiv Sena (UBT) boss Uddhav Thackeray to complete talks in Maharashtra and Ms Gandhi Vadra ensured the deal with Akhilesh Yadav was struck. Sonia Gandhi may be called on to help settle a deal with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with whom she has a good relationship.

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